Brain Functioning in Reverse

I received this very interesting article from the Fibrohugs.com newsletter "Tenderpoints." You can check out the entire Fibrohugs website at www.fibrohugs.com. This article was very interesting to me because in 1982 when I was diagnosed with FMS, I was typing words backwards at times as a legal secretary! (I always corrected them...) I also had some of the cognitive problems described in this article. My fibromyalgia story is at www.fms-help.com/fibro.htm. - Dominie

Medical Breakthrough -- Therapy for Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a frustrating condition for both doctors and patients.

It's difficult to diagnose and treat.

But a new therapy helps patients regain some function by targeting their brains.

It was the simple tasks, like balancing a checkbook, that confused Melissa Noll the most a while back.

"I thought I might have early stages of Alzheimer's," says Melissa.

But Melissa's memory problems were a symptom of something else -- Fibromyalgia -- a chronic condition that causes pain and fatigue.

"I've lived in this area 15 years and I couldn't find my way to the bank," she says.

This therapy helped Melissa find her way. It's called neurocognitive biofeedback. Dr. Myra Preston uses it on patients with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

"What we found was rather fascinating. In fact, we discovered that it's as if their brains are functioning in reverse," says Dr. Preston.

Neurofeedback corrects the brain's electrical functions by altering brainwaves. Patients are hooked up to electrodes that actually monitor the brainwaves. When they concentrate and focus, the waves function normally and video-game like displays deliver "rewards" in the form of sight and sound.

"We truly are rewarding the brain," says Dr. Preston.

It's a promising treatment, in one study, patients had more than a 60-percent improvement in memory.

"When we begin correcting the function of the brain, we begin to have an effect over all of the body systems," says Dr. Preston.

Dr. Preston also developed a technique called brain mapping to determine which patients are candidates for neurofeedback.

"Did I look slower today?" Melissa asks the doctor.

It helped diagnose Melissa's condition and neurofeedback helped treat it.

"It's like I'm getting my old self back," she says.

With a little help from her brain.

Neurocognitive biofeedback is also being used for patients with other conditions like ADHD, autism, stroke and Alzheimer's.

The cost is about 140-dollars for an hour session and is sometimes covered by insurance.

Patients have between 30 and 40 sessions.

Dr. Preston works out of Siber Imaging in North Carolina, which can be reached at http://www.siberimaging.com.